four

                                    

                                          
Hey guys! Hope you like this next chapter. I feel like the plot is moving too slow but things will pick up in the next few chapters, I promise. Also, DM if you want a shout out.
                          
After proposing our Thanksgiving road trip, the boys agreed and we decided to leave just after breakfast tomorrow. I have a feeling that we will get split up for the most part because Naomi and I love to walk around the national parks down there and get some good shopping in, while Theo and Roman have always like to sleep all day then go to some haunted thing or another in the middle of the night. 
                          
Naomi and I are now shut in her room packing and aggressively singing and dancing along with some of Taylor Swifts old songs. This is exactly what I have been missing. I don't know what I would do without Naomi honestly, she keeps me happy. I throw a swim suit and some shorts into my bag as Naomi frantically sings along to Love Story. 
                          
"You were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles and my daddy said, 'stay away from Juuuliet'" She sings with her eyes screwed shut.
                          
I try to focus on packing (for the both of us now that Naomi has completely lost interest) but I can't help but to get lost in the dramatic love story that is Taylor Swift. "Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone; I'll be waiting all there's left to do is run. You'll be the prince and I'll be the princess, it's a love story, baby just say 'yes'" I sigh. I flop back on the bed. "I remember wanting this." I look over at Naomi, who lays down next to me.
                          
"What?"
                          
"This is song. To love someone like this. To be loved like this. Back when it felt like it was actually a possibility."
                          
"Sadie. Don't do that. You are gorgeous, inside and out, and you deserve the literal world. I have seen you go through so much, I have seen you grow so much. And I know that if anyone deserves to be loved like a Taylor Swift song, it's you, but you can't give up on it, okay Sades. You will find love, but it's never just that easy." She looks over at me intensely. "I mean it. And don't you ever go doubting me." She reaches over to hug me.
                          
My nose starts to burn and I try my damnedest to not let it take over, but when Naomi hugs me, my heart bursts through the effective cage I've kept it in. Feeling rushes through me, love washes through me, warming my veins as it courses through my arteries as if it were in my very blood. It leaks out over my eyelashes. It constricts my chest. But it feels amazing.
                          
"Fuck. No. Don't cry." Naomi's voice quavers at the end and she quickly pushes herself up off the bed. "Okay. I'm going to finishing packing because I suck and you are going to go make up popcorn and grab my charger so that we can watch New Girl or something funny and up lifting so that we don't cry." She says.
                          
I pull myself off Naomi's bed before heading towards the bathroom to assess the damage my brief crying session caused. When I look in the mirror, I look better that I expected, but there are still tears streaking down my face. My heart still aches in the most beautiful way that only can only be caused by being loved. I close my eyes and take a few shuddering deep breaths. 
                          
When I finish in the bathroom, I pad down the steps to the kitchen. I grab a pot, oil, and popcorn to start our midnight snack, then go looking for Naomi's charger. I go to look in the living room, and find Roman and Cassey on the couch watching some action movie. I awkwardly stand on the border between the kitchen and the living room, looking around to see if I can find the charger.
                          
"Can we help you, kid?" Roman grumbles sleepily, not even bothering to lift his head from where it rests on the back of the couch.
                          
"Have you guys seen Naomi's charger in here?" I ask quietly, not wanting to disturb them or give away the fact that I've been crying.
                          
"Oh, I did actually, it's plugged in right over here." Cassey says sweetly before detaching herself from Roman's and leading over the side of the couch to unplug that charger. She offers it out to me and I tentatively cross in front of Roman to take the charger from her. I catch Roman's eye as I turn to leave the living room and he lifts his head a fraction. I hurry back into the kitchen, where I hear the tell-tale sign of the popcorn popping. 
                          
I lean over the pot to see how much has popped. 
                          
"Sadie." I nearly scream as I hear Roman whisper my name from behind me. A strange chill runs through me at the unfamiliar sound of him saying my name.
                          
"What?" I breathe, turning to look at him. 
                          
"Are you okay?" 
                          
Fuck. This question never, and I mean never, ends well for me. I simple nod before turning back to check on the popcorn.
                          
"Hey, just come here," he sighs.
                          
I turn in confusion, 'come here?' I'm already here. My pulse picks up when I see that he has his arms out, clearly expecting a hug. I nervously step closer to him, lightly putting my arms around his torso. Roman obviously has different plans, as he pulls me flush against him, rubbing my back ever so slightly. My face presses into his warm, muscular chest, his steady heart beat hidden beneath my ear. I slowly tighten my hold on him, feeling his muscular back under my fingertips, feeling the gentle lull of his slow breathing rock me into a state of utter calm. He slowly lets his forehead rest against the top of my head, his breathing slow and deliberate. It has been a year or two since I've hugged Roman, but it's never been quite this intimate, he's never held me like this before, but I can't say that I'm complaining. 
                          
He slowly loosens his hold on me, his hands sliding from my back to my shoulder, before he lets them fall back to his sides. Cold air floods the space between our bodies as he takes a step back, looking at me for a second before he says, "If you ever need anything just let me know kid." He slowly walks out of the kitchen, back to the girl he has given his heart to, the girl who gets to hug him whenever she wants.
                          
I try to keep the disappointment from seeping in, but between that probably being the only time that we will hug like that and him calling me that stupid nickname again, I don't know how to stop it. Instead I distract myself with preparing the popcorn. I take the bowl of warm popcorn up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to freeze time in that moment and be in the arms of the man I love again.